


Something Clever

by plentyofmalk



Series: Tumblr Prompts [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Academy Era, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-14 12:56:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7172654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plentyofmalk/pseuds/plentyofmalk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Fitz accidentally breaks the ice.</p>
<p>From the tumblr prompt, "“Please, tell me this is a joke.“"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something Clever

Fitz’s idea of a Saturday morning typically involved several attempts at hitting the snooze button, eating leftovers from whatever takeout he ordered the night before – cold, usually – and not leaving his room for the majority of the day. It did not, under any circumstances, involve being back in the lab at the academy at an hour that was not suitable for any person to be up and about, let alone _productive_ (approximately 8:26am).

And yet, here he was, pretending to be a functioning member of society whilst putting the finishing touches on his final project and denying himself a proper breakfast. If the project wasn’t due on Monday morning, he would have gladly been anywhere else.

At least it had been tolerable when he was alone, with no one to witness his embarrassingly sluggish speed or the subsequent five minute nap he’d snuck at his lab bench. But now he was all fumbling digits trying to keep up with a mind on overdrive because Jemma Simmons had popped in just a minute ago. She noticed him when she entered, but quickly looked away after giving him a polite smile and nod and _“Morning, cadet Fitz”_. Even though she was now facing away from him at the front of the lab, he couldn’t stop kicking himself for his inability to form a coherent (let alone impressive) sentence around her. It had been months now, and with every passing glance and quick hello, he dug himself into a deeper hole he couldn’t manage to get out of.

The silence was short lived, however, because just after she logged onto the computer at her station, he heard the start of a frantic muttering and several escalating _no_ ’s followed by–

“Please tell me this is a joke…”

Her normally chipper voice was panicked, which was apparently the only motivation he needed because he suddenly found himself asking, “Something wrong?”

She turned to face him, a mask of worry and a slight twitch of her shoulders that told him she had forgotten he was there. He was about to apologize and go back to sticking his head in the proverbial sand when she spoke.

“It’s gone.”

“The computer…?”

“No!” She scoffed. “My report! All of my data! Everything was fine when I came in to check on it last night and now it’s.. _gone_.”

He was sure that if he had thought it through for another 5 seconds he would have acted differently, but as it stood, the bright biochemist he’s been trying to crack the ice with needed help, and he would be damned it he didn’t try to come to the rescue.

“Do you mind?” He gestured at the mouse she still had in her hand.

“No, by all means…” Letting go, she backed away momentarily. As he took command of her computer, he could slowly feel her move closer inch by inch – eventually too curious to keep a polite distance. 

“It was Higgins, I just _know it_.” She said. “Did you see the look he gave me when he asked if extensions were being given out, and I reminded him we were given the project weeks ago?”

Fitz nodded along in agreement, especially after having heard the elder cadet wander through the halls at some ungodly earlier that morning. He would be surprised to hear if he had been doing anything other than having one too many pints and wreaking havoc on the freshman in the form of immature pranks.

It took some digging, but soon enough, he found the folder “JSimm_SynLab” buried in the slew of discard files and restored it to her hard drive. “Found it!” He said triumphantly. When he turned back to her, motioning to the monitor, he was surprised to find her glassy-eyed. She always seemed so well composed, and it was almost uncomfortable to see her panicked to the point of tears.

Uncomfortable because she was a stranger, of course. Not at all because she was the only other intelligent student in his classes that he was desperately trying to impress. Although almost crying would definitely be awkward in both scenarios.

Seemingly needing proof, she surged forward and took control of the computer, opening the folder and scanning the files inside. He backed away to give her ample space, but took comfort in the sigh of relief she gave a moment later.

“It’s all here!” She exclaimed. Then, without turning to him, “You’re brilliant. How did you know they were still there?”

He scratched the back of his neck, opting to stare down at his feet rather than look at her. “It’s all the systems in place here, really. Every action has at least two safeguards to undo it in case we’re working on something nefarious and covering our tracks, yeah?” Conjuring up the image of Higgins, always sitting in the back of the room passing notes carrying obnoxious pick up lines to the other cadets rather than paying attention, he couldn’t help but mumble under his breath, “Higgins couldn’t crack an egg, let alone a whole system devised to prevent this kind of sabotage.”

It was silent for a moment, and then he looked up to see her shoulders shaking. He didn’t know how he had blown it now, but just as he was about to apologize for somehow messing up (again), he heard it.

She was… _laughing_.

He was still apprehensive about what it meant until she added, “Yeah, he does seem like he has more than a few bits of shell in his omelet, doesn’t he?” And then she was laughing even harder, both of her hands cupped over her mouth and one built up tear leaking out in amusement rather than defeat. Suddenly she pressed herself up against him, muttering a soft _thank you_ with her arms wrapped so tight around his shoulder that he could barely reciprocate the gesture.

He couldn’t believe he had spent months trying to figure out something clever to say to her, when here she was laughing at his joke. And adding onto it. _And hugging him_. He couldn’t recall a time when he saw her impressed, but he’d already decided that her laughter is easily an equivalent.

Not that he’ll give up on impressing her, of course. But if this is the ice breaker, he has no complaints.

All at once she seemed to remember where (and who) they were, pulling back and clearing her throat. The words are still full of the same level of emotion, even though they were much more polite and professional.

“Thank you, cadet Fitz–”

“Please it’s…no need for that. Just Fitz, please.”

He earns another smile from her. “Fitz.” It rolled off of her tongue like she had to get used to a new word altogether. “I didn’t mean to take you away from your studies.”

As she said it, a low grumble rose from his stomach. He looked at her, temporarily mortified that his own body couldn’t have held off on reminding him that he’d skipped breakfast for just _one more minute_ …

She glanced down at his abdomen. “Oh, not typically used to being in a lab on a Saturday morning, I take it?”

He chuckled self-consciously. “No. Usually still in bed, if I’m honest…”

“Right, well,” She hesitated for a moment. “I feel like I owe you something for today. Could I buy you breakfast? Oh,” She corrected herself, “Actually, the campus cafe isn’t open on the weekends.” She looked dejected for a moment, before her eyes lit up. “Oh, but I do have some muffins in my room, and a nice blend of tea that my parents just sent over!”

His stomach growled again. In the two seconds he stood, dumbfounded that she – _Jemma Simmons_ – was offering her company, she managed to misread the silence.

“Or not. I know I’ve already derailed your morning, so please don’t mi–”

“That sounds great! I’m actually done here anyways so, so…that’s, yeah. Muffins.” Did he sound too enthusiastic? Oh god, was that even a coherent sentence? Maybe not, but surely he could blame that on hunger and not because his morning had taken such an unexpected turn.

The relief in her eyes was immediate, and he felt another surge of pride that he’d manage to make her happy twice in the span of five minutes. Before they left, he made sure she set extra security passwords on her computer – _”Yes, Fitz, I’ll make sure not to trust my fellow students to be professional ever again,”_ She lamented.

Later that morning she learns that he would choose chocolate chip over blueberry any day of the week, and he likes his earl grey just as sweet.

He doesn’t disclose to her that he has to come into the lab Sunday morning, bright and early, to make up for the work he neglected to finish the day before.  


**Author's Note:**

> Finally getting around to bringing some prompts from tumblr over to Ao3! Wanna be my friend? I'm plentyofmalk there, too :)


End file.
